My next catfish challenge?

[Mol_PMB]

I have 10 freshwater tropical tanks, and I've bred

Ancistrus sp`rio_paraguay`

,

Corydoras melini

,

Corydoras sp(cw010)

,

Farlowella vittata

(two generations now), and several other non-catfish species including 2 dwarf cichlids and a tetra. My group of L397s are not playing ball though!

I find breeding the most rewarding part of the hobby, even if the returns are low. Looking to my right now, I see 20-odd juvenile Farlowellas, the grandkids of the wild-caught fish I bought a couple of years ago. I've made a load of mistakes along the way but I love these little ones!

Having sold some fish recently, I have a spare tank, it's about 50L, 30" long, 15" high and 8" front to back. Filtered with HMF.

I'd like to try another breeding project. Doesn't have to be commercially viable, just practical. Any suggestions/recommendations?

Cheers,
Paul

[bekateen]

Well, that's hard to answer. What are your general rules for preference?

• Big fish or small?
• If looking through the CLOGs here, do you want a fish with no previous registered breeders? or a fish that has already been documented for its spawning?
• Do you want a fish that is rare in your area or one that is relatively common (and therefore perhaps easier to sell to LFSs because it will be more popular)?
• Suckermouth or not a suckermouth?

Do tank conditions matter to you?

• High temp fish or cooler? (if the latter, I'd go with a Chaetostoma, if I were you).
• Does water hardness matter to you?

Perhaps if you make a list of how you want to take care of these fish, it might help you decide.

Good luck, and have fun picking a species!
Eric

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks Eric!

The tank I have available is pretty small so I probably need a small fish. I'd rather go with something that's been proven possible - treading new ground is interesting but I don't fancy the diasppointment of total failure.
Temperature is unimportant, but I have very soft water so it would be less hassle to try a soft water species.

I'm happy to do water changes once or twice a week, and I already have cultures of several live foods (microworms, grindal worms, BBS, daphnia) so feeding those is no problem.

Does that help?

Cheers
Paul

[smitty]

Have you ever bred Pseudacanthicus cf. leopardus. I bet they would spark some interest since I hear they can be difficult to breed.

[pleconut]

How about moving to trying out something from another continent, my thoughts were maybe Africa and some of the Microsynodontis. Though i dont know anything about the specifics of breeding these.

[Mol_PMB]

I've got one Pseuda - my beautiful 'Tuka' an L24 female and definitely my favourite fish - a real pet. But they need very large breeding tanks and probably not practical for me sadly.

The (not-micro) Synos I have kept have generally been disappointing - either dying for unknown reasons or being virtually invisible for months on end. Very pretty but I like a fish I can see! My L244 and my Brachyrhamdia are shy but at least I see them once a week! All my other cats are visible daily at least.

[Narwhal72]

How about banjo cats?

Or maybe a wood catfish like Centromochlus perugiae?

Both are able to be done in a relatively small aquarium, but are uncommonly done and definitely a bit more challenging than loricariids and cory cats.

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks Narwhal! I'll look into them - I have seen both genus at Pier and other local shops. Could be interesting

[pleconut]

Regarding the L397s not playing ball, was it 1 male and 3 females you've got, its just my ratio now looks like 6 female's to 2 males, though 2 aren't quite adults yet, they dont seem to be playing ball either, the last time I checked behind the cardboard, 4 females were still scrapping around the cave belonging to 1 male. The male at the other end though seems to have chosen the wrong cave. I may have to thin down on the female numbers a bit and/or possibly try add another male.

[bekateen]

Thanks Eric! ... Does that help?

LOL, it's not supposed to help me, it's supposed to help YOU!

If you want to know what I'd suggest, just look at my signature.

However, I looked at your current list of species and I'm impressed that you already have the

Brachyrhamdia meesi

and

Pseudolithoxus dumus

. What about getting more of one of those (esp. the latter) and taking it on as a project. Although there are no BLOG reports for the dumas, there is some info on spawning them. So although it's not common, it has been done.

Maybe?

Cheers, Eric

P.S., If you want to try a hypan, how about

L174

?

[pleconut]

I think the L174s do go for quite a high price this side of the Atlantic, I think it was about this time last year I saw that they go for around the £100 mark, though it may have changed since.

[Mol_PMB]

I would LOVE to find more L244s and they would justify the purchase of a brand new tank! The two males (I think) I have came from different shops and despite regular web searches I have never found any more for sale.

Here are a couple of pics of my two (not very recent, they've been shy recently but I do see them both occasionally)

[Jools]

Seek out

Lophiobagrus

...

Jools

[Mol_PMB]

Seek out

Lophiobagrus

...

Jools

Interesting... Hard water but that's achievable. I'll ask Neil at Pier if he ever gets them

As for the Brachyrhamdia mentioned previously, I bought two about a year back but one has vanished. Here's the other recently - I see it quite regularly.

[bekateen]

If you want to pursue the

Pseudolithoxus dumus

, can you put in a request at the Catfish Study Group Facebook page? Don't they have a big auction coming up? Maybe such a request might stimulate someone who has them but isn't yet thinking about selling at the auction? Perhaps?

Cheers, Eric

[Mol_PMB]

Sadly not. Although I am a CSG member I'm not on Facebook. I can't even view the page let alone post to it.
I am considering going to the auction though, but information online seems scarce (Facebook excepted, which I can't see).

Anyway, that's a different debate. At the moment I'm hoping that Pier will get some interesting cats in soon for me to choose from.

[bekateen]

I'd be happy to post such a request; I'm on their Facebook page almost daily. I don't need to mention you by name but I can just throw out an open request.

Do you have any objection?

Cheers, Eric

[Jools]

Sorry for the off topic post, but the plan is to have a CSG thread here on the forum. Just not for to it yet.

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks guys!

@bekateen - that would be much appreciated. I'm especially after females. Feel free to mention my real name which is Paul Molyneux-Berry.

@Jools - thanks We're talking about the auction this Sunday rather than the convention next month. At the moment I am struggling to even find out the start time of the auction. I emailed Mark a week ago to ask for more details but I've not had a response. Any info would be appreciated. Perhaps I'll start a specific thread on this.

[Mol_PMB]

I'll wait and see what's at the auction, but after doing some reading I fancy the idea of a group of small woodcats like Centromochlus reticulatus. I'm sure Pier have had them in the past.

[bekateen]

Hi Paul,

Here's the auction info:

[bekateen]

If you can find

Tatia musaica

, that's a beautiful fish too. I think it resembles a miniature killer whale (orca).

Cheers, Eric

[Mol_PMB]

Many thanks - and a very beautiful fish

[bekateen]

Hi Paul,

I've posted the request on the CSG FaceBook page for the L244; hopefully somebody has some to sell. As an aside, are you sure yours are both males? In your pictures, neither of them looks particularly hairy.

From the CSG FaceBook page, here is a list of what other CSG members have already posted that they plan to bring to the auction. If your L244 don't show up, maybe something here will tickle your fancy. The bullets represent different people's posts. All of the fish within one bullet are being brought by the same person:

• L260
  Queen arabesque, and
  L340
  ,
• breeding groups of
  Corydoras gryphus
  and
  Corydoras longipinnis
  , F1
  Scleromystax kronei
  and
  Scleromystax lacerdai
  , F1
  Peckoltia lujani
  , wild
  Baryancistrus demantoides
  L200, Wild group
  Ancistrus macrophthalmus
  LDA074.
• Corydoras schultzei
  "Black", gold Ancistrus, adult
  Corydoras sterbai
  , large adult
  Corydoras napoensis
  , small
  Corydoras panda
  , Assorted rainbow fish, Boesemani, and Blue rainbow fish and a few other bits
• Super red ancistrus
  Red lizard whiptails (
  Rineloricaria sp(l010a)
  )
  
  C125
  aspidoras gold
  
  Corydoras caudimaculatus
  
  
  Corydoras similis
  
  
  Corydoras panda
  white breeding trio
  
  Corydoras osteocarus
  breeding trio
  
  Brachyrhamdia imitator
  
  Galaxy rasboras
  
  Phallocerus caudimaculatus
  livebearers
  
  Girardinus metallicus
  , black chin livebearers, Plus maybe a few other corys, livebearers
• extra large breeding pr of super-red ancistrus
  proven breeding pr of
  LDA008
  clara marble ancistrus
  a female
  LDA008
  ancisrtrus
  super-red ancistrus young
  
  LDA008
  ancistrus young large pr brown bristle noses young brown b/noses
  corydoras---
  Corydoras venezuela blacks (?
  Corydoras schultzei
  or
  Corydoras venezuelanus
  ?)
  
  cw010
  gold
  
  Corydoras weitzmani
  
  
  Corydoras duplicareus
  
  
  Corydoras gossei
  
  
  Corydoras robustus
  [adults]
  Corydoras sterbai
  cw023
  orange laser
  
  Corydoras hastatus
  
  cherry shrimp
  crystal shrimp and any thing else that gets near a net

Cheers, Eric

[Mol_PMB]

Thank you very much Eric
I'm sure there will be something that takes my fancy.
Cheers,
Paul

[bekateen]

Newly listed for the auction :

CW021

and

C112

[Mol_PMB]

Newly listed for the auction :

CW021

and

C112

Many thanks Eric

I hope you don't mind if I copy the list to the thread I started yesterday, which has a more relevant title.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =2&t=43246

Cheers,
Paul

[bekateen]

I don't mind at all, Paul. The info belongs there even more than it does here. Thank you.

Cheers, Eric